Coaxing
by Cheeky-Chops
Summary: AU of the ladder scene in 2x01. Gabriela Dawson is afraid of heights and who else is there to guide her but young candidate Peter Mills?


Gabriela Dawson's hands gripped the sturdy metal sides of the ladder as her feet scrambled to scale the windowsill. Before long her petite knees hit the rounded surface of the ladder rungs, and immediately her throat constricted. Her chin wobbled as she did the worst thing possible when suspended over four floors; she looked down. Her throat became dry, her lungs heaved to intake the air she had lost from the shock of the height. She'd always been afraid of heights. Even now, when her life, and the life of her team in the building behind her was at stake, her muscles still constricted, her limbs trembled, and she found herself frozen on the spot. She tried glancing up at her destination, where her friends were leaning out the window of the building opposite, waiting to pull her to safety, but as soon as her eyes moved, she felt as though any ounce of stability she had was pulled from under her, which terrified her more than she already was.

After what felt like a lifetime but in reality had been only a few seconds, a voice began to call out to her, shaking her slightly from her frightened stupor.

"Gabby," Peter Mills called, his voice taking on the 'boyfriend', or rather, 'still-caring ex-boyfriend' tone rather than the urgent fireman.

"Gabby, you can do this," he repeated, while Dawson's lips still quivered, her palms beginning to sweat, and she still hadn't moved an inch, still frozen in shock.

Mills had moved to perch on the ledge of the opposite window, and had moved his helmet so that he could look into her eyes. He knew that in order to get her to listen, just like any time they would fight, he needed to get her attention.

"Gabriela, look at me," he allowed himself to use her name instead of the playful nickname. His voice still held the loving quality it had in the early mornings they had once spent together just a few short months ago.

"Gabby, look at me. You can do this, I know you can. I know you're afraid, just like that time on the ferris wheel, remember?" he prodded, his voice taking on a joking quality in the hope of getting her to look at him.

He thought he had failed when he managed to see, with a squint, Dawson's tiny smile and a pinkness ghosting her cheeks.

"You made it through that, Gabby, you can make it through this," he continued, sliding slightly further along the ladder.

"Just look at me, Gabby. Look at my hand. You can do it. I need you to listen to me. Look at me, and take it slow, okay? You can do it, baby, I know you can," his voice slipped up and he was surprised how easily it did so, sliding in the playful moniker.

Without lifting her head, Dawson raised her eyes to look at Mills through the hair that had fallen across her face. Breathing heavily, Dawson allowed her right knee to move to the next rung forward, her left soon following and her hands moving along accordingly.

A wide grin took over Mills' face, and he nodded, holding his hand out to her.

"That's it. Come on baby, you can do it! Come on Gabby, just a little bit more, come on," he chanted, inching back on the ladder, towards the window, making room for her as she moved.

"You're doing so great, baby, just a few more rungs and I've got you. You're doing so well," he encouraged her, as inch by inch she shuffled across the cool metal of the ladder.

Stepping back inside the apartment, Mills outstretched both of his arms as Dawson's hands landed on the windowsill. He placed his arms under hers and supported her as she half fell and he half pulled her through the window, allowing her to collapse onto him.

Her arms wound around his neck as she buried her face into the heavy black material of his uniform. He embraced her tightly, quickly, a gloved hand patting her softly on the back as he pressed a kiss to her cheek and moved on to help her best friend through the window as well.

Through the organised efforts of the cohesive team unit, it wasn't long before the entire team from Firehouse 51 were safely inside the secured building. As the team regained their bearings, radios crackled in unison before Chief Boden's deep voice rang through.

"Everybody out. Now," he ordered, and the entire team shuffled out of the building, Peter Mills with a soft but steady hand upon Gabriela Dawson's back the entire time.


End file.
